1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a prosthetic bone material, i.e., a prosthetic material to be embedded in a lacking portion of the bone, and its production process. More particularly, the present invention relates to a calcium phosphate-based prosthetic bone material having a block-like shape as an original state and capable of changing its shape into granules when the prosthetic bone material is embedded into a lacking portion of the bone during a surgical operation, thereby ensuring the ease of shaping the material. The present invention also relates to a process for the production of such prosthetic bone material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, granular calcium phosphate-based prosthetic bone materials have been developed and are commercially available. However, since the prosthetic bone materials are in the form of granules, when they are actually embedded into a lacking portion of the bone during a surgical operation, a problem arises with the granules scattering around unnecessary portions of the bone.
Furthermore, the use of block-shaped prosthetic bone materials makes the shaping of the block in conformity with the configuration of the lacking portion of the bone troublesome upon surgery.